


Pocket Change

by Mattecat



Series: Coinverse [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: F/F, Gen, Possession
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-04-16 18:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14170533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattecat/pseuds/Mattecat
Summary: Collection of bonus chapters and extra stories set in the same AU asforgetting the coin for the ferryman.Latest Update: Morro asks some insensitive questions about Cyrus Borg's prosthetic arm.





	1. April Fool's Day

Ronin hears the back door unlock and open while he's closing the cash register. He looks up and frowns, though Morro's not yet in view, still in the back of the pawn shop. "Kid, that you?" he says out loud. It must be him, because Morro is the only person he's given a key to, but it's always good to be suspicious. "Thought you went home."

"Kid?" comes Morro's voice. Ronin lets himself relax.

"Yeah, kid," he says, looking back down at the register to finish counting and closing it. "We've been over this. Ghosts don't exactly age, and you haven't been alive long enough yet to grow up."

Usually Morro responds with some sort of quip about how he's technically older than Ronin, or maybe he mentions his eighteenth birthday coming up soon –

– this time, all Morro does is laugh.

Ronin pauses. Morro keeps laughing, hysterical laughter that goes on and on and on until it cuts off with a gasp. Ronin shuts the register and stands up. "Kid, you alright?"

He walks into the back. Morro is doubled over, clutching his head and gasping. Ronin is starting to think that something is seriously wrong. "Hey," he says, taking a step closer. "What's going on? Do you need me to call Borg for you?"

Morro jerks his head up, his eyes wide with fear and panic.

"Ronin," he says. "Ronin, help me!"

Yeah, something's definitely wrong.

"I'm calling Borg," Ronin says, and he reaches in his pocket for his phone, only to find it's not there. "Goddammit, must've left it somewhere. Hang in there, kid, I'm gonna go –"

Morro takes a shuddering breath, then stands up straight and glares at him.

"You're not going anywhere," he says, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You didn't forget about me, did you?"

Ronin stops in the middle of turning to see if his phone is in the shop. "Kind of hard to forget about you when you when you show up most every day," he says cautiously.

"I'm not talking about Morro."

His voice is different. Deeper, hoarse, and familiar in a way that sends Ronin back in time to years and years ago, a young man digging his own grave deeper and deeper and gambling his soul away –

"I believe you and I have some unfinished business," Soul Archer says.

Ronin whirls around and pulls out his gun, pointing it at – fuck, no, that's still Morro's body, isn't it? He can't shoot Morro. Soul Archer must know that, which is why he's standing there with that shit-eating grin. It's not an unfamiliar expression on Morro, but in this context, there's a subtle wrongness that's impossible to ignore.

"Why are you here?" Ronin says, miraculously managing to keep his voice steady.

"You know why."

Ronin rephrases. "How did you get out of the Cursed Realm?"

"You can thank this brat for that." Soul Archer knocks hard on the head of his borrowed body. "I'm sure he'd love to tell you all about it, but unfortunately, there are more important topics to discuss."

He takes a step forward, then winces and raises a hand to his head. Ronin lowers the gun. "Morro, you in there?" he says.

"I'm sorry," Morro whispers. "I can't – I can't hold him –"

"Can you hold him for –" Ronin reconsiders. "Hold him there while I call for help."

He runs back into the shop. He was hoping to find his phone, but it's not by the register. He swears loudly and trades his actual gun in favor of the water gun Morro used to tease him about until he started using it on him every time Morro made a joke. He knows that ghosts possessing human bodies aren't always affected by water, but maybe it'll shock Soul Archer enough to get him out of Morro's body. Maybe.

He hears heavy, deliberate footsteps coming towards him. "Your deadline's arrived, Ronin!" Soul Archer says. "And that debt of yours hasn't been –"

Ronin blasts water in his face just as he turns the corner.

Soul Archer sputters and raises his arms up to block the jet. Ronin doesn't see any sign of him leaving Morro's body, but he's definitely caught him off guard – Ronin advances towards him, keeping the water going, then takes his finger off the trigger and shoves past to get to the stairs.

He can hear Soul Archer – Morro? – coughing behind him. Ronin hesitates for a brief moment, then takes the steps two at a time.

His phone isn't in his bedroom. He doesn't have a landline. Ronin swears again and goes as far as checking under the bed before Soul Archer reaches the room. Ronin gets back to his feet and faces him, clutching the water gun and – goddammit, Soul Archer has a jadeblade. He's armed now. _Great._

Soul Archer steps closer with the blade, water dripping from his hair, that uncanny grin still plastered on Morro's face. "Your time is up and your debt unpaid," he says. "There's nowhere to run, gambling man! What are you going to do?"

Ronin aims the water gun. Soul Archer laughs, then his expression twists into a snarl and he lunges forward.

The blade is stopped inches away from his chest. Soul Archer rips his arm out of Ronin's grasp and tries to stab him again. Ronin steps out of the way just in time, and the jadeblade is embedded in the bare mattress. Soul Archer yanks it out, turns – Ronin shoves the pillow in his face.

"You're trying awfully hard to avoid harming your _free labor,_ " Soul Archer hisses, tossing the pillow to the side. "I know you don't really care about –"

Ronin upends a bucket of water over his head, cutting him short. While Soul Archer sputters and staggers backwards, Ronin runs to the bed, finds the switch he installed not long after moving in, and –

"Ronin?"

That's Morro's voice. He's standing there with his shoulders trembling, clutching the jadeblade, the bucket still over his head. Ronin straightens back up. "Morro, where's your phone?" he says. "Give it to me so I can call for help."

"My pocket," Morro says, his voice distorted by the bucket. "I can't – I can't move –"

"Shit." Ronin doesn't want to get anywhere near Soul Archer, but if Morro can't do it – "Keep holding him, I've got this."

He picks up the water gun and approaches Morro cautiously. He's still holding the jadeblade; Ronin moves to take it from him. Morro's arm twitches and he slashes at Ronin's wrist.

"Shit!" Ronin jerks back, glancing at his wrist – it's not a deep cut, thankfully, but it still _hurts._ Morro – _Soul Archer_ gets the bucket off his head and smirks.

"Gullible as ever!" he says, and Ronin swears again under his breath.

"You're playing dirty," he says, backing up again.

"Did you really expect anything different?" Soul Archer says.

"Guess not."

Soul Archer is, well, an archer. He's not very good at close combat, as Ronin quickly learns when Soul Archer attacks him again. Ronin is able to disarm him easily and kick the jadeblade away, sending it clattering under the bed. Morro's a strong kid, but Soul Archer clearly isn't used to the body, and it doesn't take long before Ronin pulls his arms behind his back and forces him to the ground.

"Alright," Ronin says, pressing his knee against Soul Archer's back. "You've had your fun. Get out of here and leave the kid alone."

"Leave him alone?" Soul Archer laughs. "You can't possibly care for this brat. I know what you must think of him. You don't have to pretend, you – _ha_ –"

He lets out a sharp exhale. Morro's body twitches beneath Ronin's knee. Ronin frowns. "Kid?"

"Out of my head!" Morro cries. "Get out! Get out! Get out of my _head!_ "

He sounds like he's gasping for air between cries – is Ronin putting too much weight on him? He takes his knee off, and is rewarded with a kick in the gut. Soul Archer wrenches free of his grip while he's disoriented by the pain.

This isn't going to work, he thinks. He can't do shit until he gets Soul Archer out of Morro's body. Water hasn't worked, and Morro hasn't been able to fight him off himself. He's got to have something that'll help, down in the pawn shop. Ronin shoves Soul Archer away hard and scrambles to his feet to run out the door, back down the stairs

It's not anything fancy. Just a chunk of deepstone he left lying on a shelf with a price tag, small enough to fit in his palm, not polished enough for anyone to buy it. Ronin doesn't know if it'll even work; a deepstone pendant is supposed to prevent ghosts from possessing you, but Morro is already possessed. Maybe nothing will happen, and he'll have to think of something else.

Ronin can hear Soul Archer coming down the stairs – but something is off. The footsteps sound like slow, heavy _thuds,_ and he hears what sounds like a pained groan. Ronin is acutely aware of his sweaty hands, the deepstone cold against his palm.

He whirls around to see Soul Archer's ghostly form holding the jadeblade to Morro's neck. Morro is gasping for breath, his eyes wide in fear as he stares at Ronin.

"I'm not here to fight fair," Soul Archer hisses, and he yanks Morro's hair, jerking his head back and further exposing his throat. "You _will_ –"

Ronin chucks the deepstone without thinking.

It's almost anticlimactic. The deepstone hits Soul Archer in his forehead and his incorporeal body shudders and bursts, a distorted scream piercing Ronin's ears and making him wince. Morro and the jadeblade clatter to the floor. Ronin waits a few moments to make sure Soul Archer isn't coming back, then runs to Morro's side. "Kid! Kid, what the hell was that?"

Morro shudders and curls up on the floor, tucking his knees to his chest and covering his face. Ronin doesn't know what to do. He puts a hand on Morro's back just so he can be doing something vaguely comforting.

"I'm sorry," Morro is mumbling. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm –"

"Don't sweat it, kid," Ronin says. "It's not –"

"I did that to you."

Ronin freezes.

He doesn't like to think of that time, when Morro possessed him to send a false message to the ninja, doesn't like to remember desperately fighting for control of his own body while Morro gave the location he intended the ninja to meet their deaths at. He says nothing, sitting there frozen, while Morro continues babbling.

"I did that to _Lloyd,_ he says. "He – he fought me for _days,_ and I – I barely lasted a few hours – I'm so sorry, Ronin, I –"

He cuts himself off with a sob. Ronin takes a deep breath.

"Come on, kid," he says. "Stand up. Can you stand?"

Morro curls up further and wails. Dammit, Ronin doesn't have time for this.

"Alright," he says, and he gets his arms under Morro and lifts him off the ground. "Come on. I'll let you crash here for the night. Unless you want me to call your dad."

Morro says nothing. His body is shaking with sobs.

"Yeah, you can crash here. I think the couch is long enough for you, you damn beanpole."

He's never let Morro into the living areas of the pawn shop, but there's nowhere else for him to sleep. Ronin pushes the door open with his foot and carries Morro to the couch. "Don't mind the mess," he says, putting Morro down. "Haven't exactly been expecting company. Eh, not that you're the kind of person to mind." He's practically talking to himself, with how unresponsive Morro is. "Wait here, I'll find some blanket for you."

It takes him a long time to find a blanket, and when he gets back, Morro has apparently cried himself to sleep. "Goddammit, kid," Ronin mutters. "I'm not tucking you in."

He drapes the blanket over him, and after a moment's thought, goes back to the shop to pick the deepstone off the floor. Returning to Morro, he places the deepstone on his chest, refills the water gun at the kitchen sink, and drags a chair to the door to sit at for the rest of the night.

* * *

The sun rises, as it does each day. Ronin stands up and stretches; he's been up all night, alternating between sitting in the chair and pacing, and he's starting to feel exhaustion creeping up on him. He puts the water gun down, looks back at where Morro is still asleep on the couch, and decides to make breakfast.

His milk expired weeks ago. Ronin sticks two mugs of yesterday's coffee in the microwave and considers his options. He doesn't have much in the way of fresh food, but there's got to be something.

He's emptied the contents of the minifridge and is deep in thought when he hears Morro stirring on the couch. "You awake, kid?" he says out loud, glancing back behind him.

Morro groans and pulls the blanket over his head.

"Coffee's about ready, if you want some. How you feeling?"

"Like shit," Morro mumbles.

"That's what I figured. I'm gonna heat up some leftovers."

Ronin puts Morro's plate and mug on the table, because he's not going to give Morro breakfast in bed. The line has to be drawn somewhere. He starts eating, going slow enough that when Morro finally gets up and joins him, he still has food left on his plate.

"Sleep alright?" Ronin asks while Morro pushes the rice around.

"I want to die," Morro says.

"Yeah, I've been there."

They sit there in silence for a few long moments. Ronin finishes his food and stands up to put his plate in the sink. He only gets a few steps away before Morro blurts out, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, kid."

"It's not fine," Morro says. "I never fully understood what – what I did to you. I do now."

Ronin winces. "Kid –"

"And –" Morro takes a deep breath. "I understand now why you don't forgive me. I just – I just want to tell you that you don't have to, I don't expect that, and –"

That catches Ronin off guard, and he interrupts before Morro can go any further. "You think I don't forgive you?"

Morro stops, his mouth hanging open as he stares at Ronin. "You don't," he whispers. "Right? I thought…"

Ronin sighs and returns to the table after abandoning the plate on the counter. He pulls out the chair, sits down, and looks Morro in the eyes, his arms crossed over the backrest. "The hell made you think I don't forgive you?" he says. "I thought I made it pretty clear that I did."

Morro stiffens. "I – but – I don't –"

Poor kid sounds like he's about to start crying again. Ronin sighs again.

"Listen, kid," he says. "You remember back when you first walked into this pawn shop? Trying to buy those records? When I told you you had to work for me to accept your apology – I honestly just wanted you out. I didn't think you'd actually come back. I thought you just wanted to say some stupid thing and leave." Ronin shrugs. "So when you came back, it was… weird. Didn't think my forgiveness – or lack of it – would mean anything to you."

Morro's breaths are coming in fast inhales and slow exhales, like he's barely keeping himself from sobbing. Ronin wonders if he's saying the wrong thing. He keeps talking anyway.

"Kid, you've done a lot of shit. And you know what? I've done a lot of shit, too. Maybe on a smaller scale, but there's plenty of people I ain't getting forgiveness from. Plenty of people I don't deserve forgiveness from." Ronin taps his fingers on the table. "I've never tried to reform myself, not really. Half-assed it, at best. You're… not."

"I'm not what?"

"Half-assing it. You're putting your whole self into making up for what you've done. And you know what?" Ronin cracks a smile. "It's paid off. You're not the same as you were when you did that shit. You keep coming in to work for me, doing all the drudgery I can't be assed to do myself." His smile fades. "Knowing you thought I didn't forgive you… that puts a different light on it. I figured you'd just leave when you got sick of me ordering you around, 'cause you've done way more than enough for me to accept your apology."

"You never said anything," Morro says. "I thought –"

"I know what you thought, kid. Guess I should come right out and say it: your apology's been accepted. I forgive you. You don't gotta work for it anymore."

Somehow, this doesn't lift Morro's spirits in the slightest. He only seems to look worse.

"You don't want me here?" he says quietly, his voice trembling.

Ronin groans. "Goddammit, kid – I didn't think _you_ wanted to be here! I mean, c'mon – sweeping the floors? Organizing the shit that's just gonna be messed up by the next customer? Sure, it's nice to have some company around here, but I can run this place by myself just fine. I'm not forcing you to stay. You don't actually like it here, do you?"

"I like it here," Morro says.

Ronin doesn't respond to that.

Morro looks down at the table, at the food he's barely touched. "You forgive me," he says. "I… I didn't think you would. I wanted you to, but now…" He shudders. "I don't deserve it. Oh God, I don't deserve this, I –"

He wipes his eyes on his sleeve and sobs.

Ronin shakes his head. "Kid, do yourself a favor and shut up."

"But –"

Ronin stands up. Morro goes quiet. Ronin walks around the table and stops in front of him. For a moment, the two stare at each other without moving, then Ronin lets out a deep sigh and pulls Morro into a hug.

He immediately lets go when Morro goes stiff. "Sorry, kid, didn't mean to –"

Morro sobs and throws his arms around him, burying his face in his chest and wailing. Ronin shakes his head and smiles. "Dammit, kid, you're gonna make me cry."

He doesn't hear Morro's response at first, muffled as it is. Ronin raises an eyebrow. "What was that, kid?"

Morro takes a shuddering breath and manages to speak between sobs. "Awww, Wonin, do you _cawe_ about me?"

"I – what?"

He lets go of Morro, who backs up and wipes his eyes, a huge grin on his face. "Do you wike me, Wonin? Awe we fwiends now?"

Ronin turns around and walks away. "Go home, kid."

"But Wonin! Don't I have wowk today?"

"You're fired."

"Oh no!" Morro giggles and follows him out to the pawn shop. "Wonin, how am I gonna get anothew job with my cwiminaw wecowd? Don't I get sevewance pay?"

Ronin rolls his eyes. "I'll let you take another record home with you if you shut up. Borg's probably freaking out."

"It's okay, Wonin, I'm gonna caww him and teww him I'm staying with my best fwiend!"

"Holy shit, every word you say is like a knife in my brain. Shut the hell up, kid."

" _Wonin ~_ "

In theory, he could kick Morro out any time he wanted. Kid probably needs to get checked up by a doctor; Soul Archer has _clearly_ affected Morro's brain if he's talking like this. Ronin groans loudly while Morro babbles and checks the clock. Goddammit, it's almost time to open, and his all-nighter is starting to catch up with him.

"Alright, alright," he says. "Just. Stop talking. Please. How about you mop up that water before we open?"

"Okay, Wonin!"

"You are enjoying this way too much."

"You shouwd do it too! We can tawk wike this aww day!"

"I would rather die."

"You mean you'd _wather_ die –"

"That doesn't sound like you're mopping the floor."

Morro cracks up and leaves to get the mop. Ronin sighs and allows himself a smile, now that Morro isn't looking. Funny to think that the ghost that nearly killed him could change like this. It wasn't easy, forgiving the kid, and Ronin knows he's under no obligation to care for him like this. And yet, this feels right. The routine they've fallen into feels natural, like in another lifetime, they could've been friends from the start.

"Hey Wonin! Whewe do we keep the jadebwades? I need to put this one away!"

Even if the kid tries to test his patience like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy apwil foows day fwom mowwo and wonin


	2. Date Night, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY this was supposed to be a collection of oneshots but this story is a twoshot bc it ended up being WAY too long so! here! have fun!

It wasn't technically a romantic date, Skylor thinks. Sure, she had invited Nya to eat with her at a nice restaurant, but that was just so she could scope out the competition, even though a place this fancy isn't really in the same category of restaurant as her noodle house – and sure, she had dressed up nice, but that was so she could eat there without being recognized, even though she had put her real name on the reservation…

Who is she kidding. Skylor had definitely intended it as a romantic date, Nya _knew_ she had intended it as a romantic date, and now they are going to go on a romantic date, and she's spilling all her worries to who is probably her least qualified friend to give her advice.

Morro, though, isn't giving much advice, which Skylor is grateful for. He just nods like he understands and grabs another handful of sugar packets from the basket. "Sounds stressful," he says, putting one in his mouth. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm nervous!" Skylor wrings her hands and sighs. "I don't know anything about dating, so I don't know what I'm supposed to do, or even – all the advice I looked up online is for a man and woman, so I don't even know who's gonna pay!"

"I mean, you're the one with the job." Morro frowns. "I don't think you get paid just for being a ninja."

"Yeah, I don't know how they make any money, actually. Doing interviews, I think."

"And you invited her, so you should probably pay."

Skylor nods. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Morro scrunches up his nose. "And you're really interested in _her?_ "

"If you start complaining about my romantic interests I'm going to make you start paying for all the sugar you take from here."

"I could."

"But you won't, because you're not gonna say anything that'll make me cut you off, right?"

Morro shrugs. "You know how I feel about the ninja."

"And _you_ know how I feel about this one ninja in particular," Skylor retorts.

"Which restaurant are you taking her to?"

Skylor blinks, and has to take a moment to mentally adjust herself to the shift in conversation. "The new one that opened up near the Place. You know, the rich people mall."

"Are you a rich person now?"

"It's just _near_ the rich people mall, it's not like I have to show proof of a six-figure income before I enter." Skylor rolls her eyes. "Besides, you're the last person I want to hear judging me for going to a rich person restaurant, Mister 'I-Get-An-Allowance-From-Cyrus-Borg-Himself'"

"Okay." Morro stuffs a handful of sugar packets in his pocket and stands up. "I should probably head back to the tower. Your date's at six, right?"

"Yeah, so if you text me then, I probably won't be able to answer."

"That's fine. I'll remember that."

Skylor pulls the basket away from him as he reaches for another handful. "Go home, Morro. You have unlimited sugar packets in your rich person cafeteria, you don't need to steal the ones for my employees."

Morro cracks a smile. "Got it. See you later."

It's only after he's gone that Skylor realizes what he was implying.

* * *

"You seem nervous," Nya says once they're seated in the booth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Skylor says, craning her neck to see the entrance of the restaurant. She doesn't see anyone that looks like Morro, but his "see you later" is echoing in her head, and it's only a matter of time.

"You sure? You don't look too good."

Skylor takes a deep breath and tears her eyes away. "Sorry," she says. "I guess I have a lot on my mind."

Nya smiles. "Do you want to talk about it? Might be good to get it out."

"…I dunno, it's just…" Skylor shrugs. "Vague stress, I guess."

"Well, okay." Nya is still smiling, but it doesn't seem as genuine as it had been – did Skylor do something wrong?

Skylor shakes her head. Setting her mind, she forces herself to stop checking for Morro and focuses her full attention on Nya. "What have you been up to?" she asks. "Have the ninja been on any exciting missions lately?"

Nya's smile disappears completely. "Uh…"

"Now you look nervous. What's going on?"

She sighs. "I… I dunno, I…"

Skylor frowns. Nya averts her gaze.

"Okay," she says. "I'll be honest. Couple months ago – like, before Morro was resurrected – a ghost was reported buying a ticket to Stiix. We never got there in time to figure out what he was up to, and just recently, we got word he was spotted again."

"You say he like you know who he is," Skylor says, feeling a dark pit in her gut. "He's not… someone I know, is he?"

Nya nods, looking like she's about to throw up. "Clouse."

"Ah."

They sit there in silence for a while. "I'm going to use the ladies room," Nya says, and she stands up and walks away. Once she's gone, Skylor groans and flops facedown on the table.

"You look sad. Do I need to kill her for you?"

Skylor jerks her head back up. "Morro?!"

Morro nods, putting a sugar packet in his mouth – he must have brought some with him, because the restaurant doesn't have them at the tables. "I was supposed to be reformed by now, but I'm willing to murder someone if you'll help me hide the body."

"Oh my God! No! I don't want anyone murdered!" She says it a little too loud, judging by the concerned looks she gets from the other restaurant patrons. Morro doesn't seem bothered.

"Alright," he says, shrugging. "Just figured I'd offer. Do you want me to leave?"

Skylor rolls her eyes. "And will you actually leave if I say yes?"

"Yes," Morro says. "I've been here this whole time. I only came over because you looked sad. If you want me to go back home, I will."

She's caught off guard by how sincere he sounds. She expected Morro to come in here and make a nuisance of himself, which she supposes is still on the table, but he's making it sound like he came because he was worried about her.

Still, though.

"I appreciate your concern," Skylor says, "but I can take care of myself. Thank you. Please go before –"

"Uh, Skylor? What's going on?"

Skylor and Morro look up to see Nya standing there confused. Skylor groans and buries her face in her hands.

"Evening, Water Ninja," Morro says with a wave.

"I'm sorry, Nya," Skylor says through her fingers. "He followed me here. I was just telling him to leave."

"Okay," Nya says. "Is he going to do that?"

"Yeah, I'm done here." Morro stands up and wipes his hands on his sweatpants. "See you later, Skylor."

Skylor keeps watching him until he exits the restaurant, then just shakes her head. "I'm really sorry, Nya. I didn't think he'd actually show up."

"It's okay," Nya says, sitting back down in Morro's now-vacated seat. "It's not like I haven't already made things awkward. Let's change the subject. How's your restaurant doing?"

* * *

Morro is just about to text Cyrus to pick him up when he sees the man.

Despite the hood he has pulled down over his head, Morro catches a glimpse of his face – he's an older man, with black hair and dark shadows under his eyes. He seems vaguely familiar, but Morro can't place a name to him. He would have left him alone, but the man is not being subtle about peering into the restaurant window, and Morro isn't interested in letting him cause any trouble.

Morro steps into the man's line of sight and leans against the window. "Haven't seen you around before," he says, while the man jerks back and glares at him. "What brings you to Ninjago City?"

"None of your business," the man growls, and he stalks away towards the alley beside the restaurant.

Morro could let him go, maybe follow in secret and see what he's up to.

OR,

He sends a gust of wind strong enough to rip the cloak off the man and send it flying into the sky. "I know you from somewhere," Morro says, walking closer while the passersby stop and stare. "And I'm fairly certain you know me. There's only a few places I could know people from, so if you're from the Cursed Realm…"

"I'm not _from_ the Cursed Realm," the man spits, holding a hand to his face and glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "I wasn't born there."

Morro shrugs. "Neither was I. Where are you from?"

The man glances from side to side at the people stopped to watch. "None of your business."

A grin stretches across Morro's face. "You must have not been in the Cursed Realm for long, because you would not be talking back like this if you really knew me!"

The man flinches. Morro steps closer.

"Now," he says. "There's one thing I don't get. You don't look like a ghost."

"Neither do you," the man retorts.

"I was deemed worthy of a second chance and granted the gift of life by the Green Ninja himself." Morro definitely remembers this man; he had appeared in the Cursed Realm shortly before Morro was able to escape it and set the Preeminent's plans in motion, so Morro never bothered to learn his name. "Can you say the same for yourself?"

The man's face darkens. "So you're a friend of the ninja."

"Oh, God no," Morro says immediately.

"That would explain why you won't leave me alone. Always on the lookout for people up to no good." The man lowers his hand from his face and scowls.

"No. No. I'm not affiliated with –"

"Well, you can tell your friends that I no longer serve under Master Chen." He takes a step back and takes out a sheet of paper. The crowd they've gathered starts to murmur. "I, Lord Clouse, have a new master, and I will act out Prince Nadakhan's wishes no matter who gets in my way."

Morro's eyes widen, and he forgets about denying involvement with the ninja. "Master Chen? Skylor's father? Is _that_ why you're here?"

"How many times must I tell you?" Clouse glares at him. "It's _none of your business._ "

He holds the paper in front of him and begins reciting; Morro doesn't recognize the spell, but he recognizes that it is one, and that's enough for him to act. He sends a burst of wind out around him with enough force to make the people watching stumble back, hopefully alerting them to clear the area. He's not about to let this ghost of Skylor's past ruin her date.

* * *

Skylor isn't sitting near a window, which would be fine, but even though the restaurant is quiet and close to empty, she feels like the walls are closing in on her. She and Nya sit in silence as they wait for their food, until Nya speaks up again.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"It's fine," says Skylor. "I'm the one who asked."

"Yeah, but… I dunno."

"Hey. It's not your fault. I'd rather know he's around than have him be around without me knowing."

Nya manages a smile. "I guess that makes sense. Still, I'm sorry. Let's talk about something else."

"Sure. Have you started any new projects lately? I remember you were going to work on the Destiny's Bounty computers, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not really new. They've been needing constant upgrades and repairs since they were first installed. I'm really excited about the temporal energy tracker, though – I mean, it's just to tell time, but we'll have the most accurate clock in all of Ninjago!"

"How does that work?"

They go back and forth with Nya explaining her tech projects, and Skylor asking questions when she doesn't understand something. Skylor's always liked listening to people, and by the time the food arrives, her stress has melted away.

* * *

Morro recognizes some of the words in the spell, and he doesn't like the sound of them – before Clouse can finish, he tackles him and uses Airjitzu to lift him off the ground. The technique does most of the heavy lifting, thankfully, because Morro would never be able to lift him by himself.

Credit to Clouse, he has obviously trained to cast while under stress, because he barely falters with the incantation. Morro drops him on the roof of the restaurant just as the flames erupt, alighting on Clouse's body – no harm done to him, but the same would not have been said for Morro had he not let go.

"Why are you here?" Morro demands, keeping his distance. "If you want anything to do with Skylor, then it is my business, so don't tell me it's not!"

"Oh, so you know she's here, too." Through the flames, he can see Clouse smirk. "What business do you have with her, I wonder?"

"She's my friend, asshole!"

"Really."

Morro forces himself to calm down. He can't let this guy get under his skin. "It doesn't matter what you think," he says, adjusting his stance. "You need to leave."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Of course you can't." Morro is more aware of his situation, now. He has no weapons, and Clouse has spells. Morro can do magic, too, but the only spell he has memorized is the one to see the color of his soul, which is useless here. He growls under his breath. He can't even resort to hand-to-hand combat, because Clouse is _on fire._

"You want to know why I'm here," Clouse says. "Truthfully, Prince Nadakhan isn't interested in the Master of Amber. It's the ninja he has business with." He crosses his arms. "If you wish it, I will do nothing to harm her, so long as you leave the Water Ninja and I –"

"How about you leave now without anyone," Morro interrupts, "and I won't murder you."

Clouse laughs. "I'm surprised you're so eager to defend the Water Ninja. Wasn't she the one to defeat you, in the end?"

"I deserved it."

"You really are reformed now, aren't you?"

Clouse wrinkles his nose. He sounds disgusted, almost. Morro rolls his eyes and decides he's had enough of standing around.

He grabs a piece of loose slate off the rooftop and throws it like a disc, using his powers to direct it and keep it aloft. Clouse ducks. Morro throws another one before he has time to react. The first slate shatters on the ground – Morro curves the second one around to follow Clouse as he dodges. A burst of flame breaks the slate into pieces too small to do any damage.

"That's all you have?" Clouse says. "Throwing rocks?"

Morro beans him in the head with a large pebble.

While Clouse curses and glares at him, Morro looks around for anything else he can use as a weapon. He can keep picking slate off the ground, but would it really be effective? He doesn't have a lot of options, not without attracting more attention than he already must be.

Morro is starting to think he might have to call for backup.

He pushes that thought away – he can handle this himself. Clouse's fire spell can't last indefinitely. Morro picks up another piece of slate and watches Clouse carefully.

"You're not nearly as intimidating as the stories say," Clouse says.

"Neither are you," Morro retorts.

"So you've heard stories of me."

"Sure. Weird disciple of Master Chen who does dark magic." Morro walks in a slow curve around Clouse, keeping his eyes on him. "Had some friends in the Cursed Realm, maybe? Some of the others recognized you when you arrived."

"Can anyone be called a friend in that hole?"

"I don't know, can they?"

Clouse frowns – then, abruptly, turns away.

"You're just a distraction," he says. "You pose no threat to me as you are."

" _What?_ "

"You clearly haven't taken full advantage of your second chance, as you call it. You could've gained power beyond what you ever could have as a ghost, but instead? You've become soft and pathetic. You're of no importance anymore."

Clouse begins walking towards the edge of the roof. Morro grits his teeth and calls upon the wind.

The air moves at his command. He raises his hands to steady it, curve it around and around, faster and faster – Clouse struggles to keep moving, but the wind lifts him off the ground. The flames spiral high into the sky while Clouse flails, the cyclone keeping him trapped.

"It's too bad," Morro says, walking closer. "If you had reached the Cursed Realm a little sooner, you could have seen what I'm capable of, and maybe you would be smart enough not to heckle me. What are you, again? A magician who can't even cast without the written spell?"

Clouse sputters angrily as he tumbles in the air. "Prince Nadakhan won't –"

"Oh, yes, and you work beneath a prince I've never heard of." Morro smirks. "I'd say you've fallen from your former glory, but I don't think you had any to begin with."

Morro summons a downdraft to slam Clouse down with enough force to crack the slate on the rooftop.

* * *

The _THUD_ from above interrupts their conversation. Nya and Skylor look up at the ceiling, where some of the chandeliers are still swaying.

"What was that?" Nya says.

Skylor frowns. "Did something fall onto the roof?"

Nya stands up. "I'm going to check it out," she says. "I'll be back in… uh…"

She trails off, staring at the disappointment that must be visible on Skylor's face. Skylor shakes her head and tries to assume a more neutral expression. "Okay," she says. "That's fine. I'll wait."

"I mean, uh…" Nya sits down again, which only makes Skylor feel worse.

"No, it's really fine! Really!" Skylor tries to reassure her. "I just, I mean… I can wait here, it's fine."

"Sorry," Nya says. "I shouldn't run off on our date like that. I just… I dunno, I guess I feel like I have to handle everything myself."

"Like I said, it's fine."

"I'm gonna text Kai and tell him to do a flyover, alright?" Nya smiles. "It's probably nothing."

* * *

Morro feels the impact running through the roof and up his legs and realizes he needs to be more careful. The whole point of this is to take care of Clouse himself, so Skylor's date isn't interrupted. To that end, he should take the fight away from the restaurant.

Clouse is getting up again, his face twisted in pain. He still has the protection of the fire, and he doesn't show any sign of yielding. Morro prepares his powers again – but elemental powers aren't effortless, and Morro never reached his true potential. Keeping that cyclone up for as long as he did was tiring enough. He grits his teeth and takes a step forward, towards Clouse, raising his hands again.

Clouse raises his own hands, and a stream of fire blazes forth. Morro ducks to the side and hisses, feeling the heat graze him. "So you do have some fight in you," he says defiantly. "And I thought this was going to be boring!"

"I'm sure you would love that," Clouse says, "but I'd much rather get this done quickly."

"Same here," Morro says. "So you're best giving up now."

Clouse glares at him. "Do you still think I'm scared of you? Perhaps you were her lieutenant once, but here? You're just a sad child."

Morro rolls his eyes. "And you're just a sad man."

He almost doesn't dodge the next fireball Clouse throws at him. His heart is pounding – unwanted, unbidden, memories of a dark cave are making themselves known, of hot stone, of burning – Morro grits his teeth and sends a sharp gust of wind that knocks Clouse off-balance, but only briefly.

"You may have been given life," Clouse says, "but have you earned it?"

"I take it you have?"

"Of course. Why else would I have been brought back?" Clouse smirks. "Because someone pitied me, like they did you?"

Morro snarls and sends another gust. Clouse staggers back, still with a grin. "Did I hit a sore spot, Master of Wind?"

This needs to end. This needed to end long ago. Morro takes a step back and tries to think of a course of action – the fireball shoots by him and bursts on the ground, a stray flame catching on his pant leg as he jumps to the side. He aims his hand and summons a contained gust to blow it out.

Their fight keeps going, Morro with gusts of wind and Clouse with his fire. Morro is limited by keeping the fight contained; he can't use wind to knock Clouse off the roof where he'll be noticed. Lucky for Morro, it looks like Clouse doesn't want to attract attention, either – all his fireballs are angled down to hit the roof when they miss, and the fire dissipates with nothing to catch light.

Morro is starting to be sick of fire.

"Hey!"

A figure alights next to him, dressed in a red gi with a hood over his face – Morro groans when he recognizes Kai. "Why are you here?" he snaps before Kai can say anything.

"Nya texted me, wanted me to do a flyover." Kai takes off his hood and glares at him. "The hell's going on here?"

"I am _trying_ to stop this asshole from ruining Skylor's date!"

"Skylor's what?" says Clouse.

Kai squints in his direction. "That's Clouse. Isn't he supposed to be a ghost?"

Morro rolls his eyes. "Apparently he was brought back. Don't ask me how. Are you going to help me fight him or not?"

He sees the fireball too late to react – Kai shoves him out of the way and sends a stream of his own fire to intercept it. Morro stumbles back, his heart pounding.

"You definitely need the help," Kai says with a grin. "Sure. It's my sister's date too, after all."

Morro keeps his mouth shut and shifts his stance, facing down Clouse with Kai.


	3. Date Night, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for this chapter: mentions of/allusions to abuse, some violence. also this part is way shorter than the first part thanks to a miscalculation on my end. sorry about that.

Skylor does a decent job of ignoring the strange noises coming from above; none of them are as loud as the initial _thud,_ so she thinks it's probably okay. Still, she and Nya finish their dinner quickly, and before long Skylor is asking for the check.

"What do you want to do next?" she asks. "It's not too late, we could walk around, go see a museum… I know some art galleries that are open this late."

"I haven't been to an art gallery in a long time," Nya says. "When I was younger, I was always interested in the science museum and other stuff like that. Might be nice to see something different."

"Should we go, then?"

"Sure!"

Skylor pays and the two of them leave.

Of course, the moment they step outside the restaurant, it's impossible to ignore everyone standing on the sidewalk and gawking at the roof. Nya and Skylor look up. The night sky is occasionally lit up by bursts of firelight.

The two sigh in unison.

"I told Kai to let me know if something was wrong," Nya says. "Guess he didn't want to disturb our date, which, y'know, I appreciate, but…"

"I hate to say it," Skylor says, "but I'm pretty sure Morro has something to do with this. They probably got in some sort of fight."

"Should we go check it out?"

"Yeah, we really should."

Skylor extends a hand to Nya, who smiles, but hesitates before she takes it. "What's this for?"

"I'm going to fly us up there."

"Wait, you're going to _fly us?_ "

"I copy other elements, remember? It's not as strong as his powers, but I should have enough control over the wind to get us up there."

A flash of – of _something_ crosses over Nya's face for a moment, but it's gone when she nods and says, "Okay."

The wind surrounds them both, lifting them off the ground and carrying them onto the roof. Skylor doesn't have precise control over it, and when she tries to land them, the wind drops them and they stumble a few steps. Skylor looks up once she's regained her balance.

A chill grips her heart when she sees who Kai and Morro are fighting.

"Just who I wanted to see," Clouse says, his body wrapped in flames. "It's been a while, Skylor."

Nya quickly steps in front of Skylor. "You stay away from her!"

"Hey, Water Ninja!" Morro snaps. "We need these flames extinguished!"

Kai glares at him. "I thought we were trying to _not_ get them involved," he says.

"Well, they're here! What are we going to do? Tell them to go back and keep eating?"

Skylor finds herself moving forward, around Nya, towards Clouse. Breathe, she tells herself. In. Out. In. Out.

Clouse narrows his eyes. "What are you –"

One by one, she calls upon her borrowed powers. Water to put his flames out. Speed to dodge when he takes out a knife. Metal to harden her fist when she punches him in the gut. Smoke to choke him when he struggles to catch his breath.

"Holy shit," Morro says.

"Skylor!" Nya shouts.

Ice to freeze his feet in place. Gravity to send him crumpling to the ground. Lightning to make him twitch and spasm. Form to alter her body, to close her tear ducts and stop herself from crying.

Nya grabs her arm.

"Skylor, stop!"

She stops.

Clouse gasps when the increased gravity is lifted, lying on the filthy roof. One of his ankles is visibly broken. Skylor stares down at him, taking deep breaths. Kai is staring at her in horror. Morro, on the other hand –

"That was incredible!" he says. "You switched between those powers so fast! I've never seen you do that before! Next time we train, you should –"

Kai gives him a hard whack on the head. "Shut up, asshole," he snaps.

Skylor finds she can't speak. Is something wrong with her powers? Maybe the element of sound is affecting her somehow. She lets Nya lead her away.

"Kai?" Nya says. "You mind bringing – bringing him to the police station?"

"No problem, sis."

* * *

They're at an art gallery. Skylor stares blankly at the paintings in front of them. Nya is still holding her hand, her palm damp with sweat. The receptionist keeps glancing at them from the desk. Neither of them speak.

"Um," Nya says.

Skylor says nothing.

Nya squeezes her hand. "It was a good date," she says. "The dinner part, I mean. Um. I don't regret going out with you. It just… sucks that it turned out like that."

"I'm sorry," Skylor says.

"You don't have to apologize! You didn't – um. Well, you stopped when I told you to stop, and he probably deserved worse, it's just –" Nya trips over her own words. "– it was a little – intense, for me, I guess, and I didn't want – I didn't want you to do anything you'd regret."

"I wish I had killed him," Skylor says.

Nya winces. The receptionist pretends not to have heard.

Skylor pulls her hand out of Nya's grip. "You told me he was a ghost right? He wasn't a ghost then. I – he should be dead. He should've died, like my father did."

"Skylor…" Nya puts a hand on her shoulder.

"I thought – I thought I had moved on." Skylor is trembling, now, and it's only thanks to her element of form that she's not crying. "I thought I had a new life, away from him. I thought I had accepted my powers, I thought – I can't do this, Nya. I don't want to be the Master of Amber anymore."

"Skylor…"

"He only loved my mother because of her powers, did you know?" Skylor laughs, a bitter sound in her ears. "Once I was born, and she lost her powers – he stopped loving her. Didn't care when she got sick. I was old enough to take care of myself, then, so he didn't need her anymore."

"It's going to be okay, Skylor," Nya says. "You're going to be fine. I – I can't imagine how hard it is for you, but you're going to be fine, okay?"

"How do you know?"

Again, Nya takes her hand, twines their fingers together. "Because you're here now," she says. "You got out of there. You can heal. You can change, if that's what you want. We can have a life together." She swallows hard. "I know we haven't been dating for very long, but I really – I really care about you, Skylor. I want us to be okay. I want you to be okay."

Skylor doesn't know what to say to that.

"I think this date is kind of ruined," Nya says. "I'll walk you home. Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

Skylor shakes her head. She's feeling a little better, maybe? Numb, mostly. She thinks it's safe enough for her to change her body back to normal and reopen her tear ducts.

Of course, she breaks down in tears the moment she does so.

* * *

Nya brings her back to her apartment, where they sit and talk for a long time before Nya leaves. Skylor has a restless sleep.

Morro shows up the next morning, waiting for her at the back door of the noodle house. "Hey," he says.

"Good morning," Skylor says. She knows he must be here because of what happened the night before, but she doesn't want to say acknowledge it. "I don't have a lot of time to talk, I need to get everything ready for the cooks."

"I just…" Morro takes a deep breath. "I wanted to say I'm sorry," he says. "I should've known… I don't know."

"You don't have to say anything." Please don't say anything, Skylor thinks. "I'm glad you apologized."

"Are you alright?"

If Morro keeps asking these questions, she's going to cry again. "I don't want to talk about it, Morro."

"Oh. Okay. Should I tell the Water Ninja to go home, then?"

Skylor freezes. "What?!"

The door is unlocked. Skylor opens it to find Nya sitting in the breakroom, smiling awkwardly at her. "I thought I'd do something to cheer you up," she says. "Well, I mean –"

"It was my idea," Morro says from outside. "And I'm the one who picked the lock."

Skylor can't help it. She puts down her bag and laughs, laughs until there are tears in her eyes and she's holding onto the counter for balance. Nya and Morro both approach her, voicing their concern. She manages to regain enough composure to hug them.

"Thank you," she says. "I really appreciate it."

"We haven't even done anything yet," Morro says, leaning his weight away from Nya.

"It's enough that you're here." Skylor lets them go and takes a step back, wiping her eyes. "Though I really do need to get ready for work."

"That's why we're here," Nya says. "We're giving you a break!"

"You're what?"

"You work too hard," Morro says. "You should have a day off. We'll run the restaurant for you today."

Skylor almost starts laughing again. "How about I let you help me?" she says. "I can't exactly abandon all my responsibilities."

"But –"

"Don't argue, Morro," Nya says, elbowing him in the ribs. Turning her focus back on Skylor, she says, "Tell us what to do, and we'll do it."

She sets Morro to sweeping the front and Nya to helping clean the kitchen. When the other employees come in, she quickly explains the situation, and makes sure they're okay with it. Her head chef finds it hilarious. "Employing your girlfriend, are we?" he says with a chuckle. "I'm sure that violates some sort of workplace regulation."

"It's okay!" Morro shouts from the front. "She's not paying us!"

The chef cracks up at that. Skylor just shakes her head and tells him to get to work.

For the rest of the day, she can't keep the smile off her face. She barely even thinks of Clouse; all the can think of is how lucky she is to have this life, with friends and family who care about her.


	4. Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy I wrote the main bulk of this like… in january lmao. finally finished it up today so I'd have Something to post.
> 
> this takes place in the early part of forgetting the coin, I'd say around the time immediately after chapter 14, so cyrus & morro have begun their first forays into magic together.

"Why do you always wear just one glove?" Morro asks one day in the office, leaning back in his chair and folding paper airplanes out of the printouts of ancient runes.

"What, this?" Cyrus rubs his left hand over the rubbery texture of his right. "It's not a glove, it's the cover for my prosthetic."

Morro loses his balance, his chair tipping back too far, and crashes to the ground.

"Ah! Morro, are you –"

"Your _what?_ " Morro yelps, scrambling to his feet. "You're _missing_ an _arm?_ "

"Did you… not know?" Cyrus frowns at him. "It's not exactly a secret, and you did possess my body once –"

"I had bigger things to worry about back then." Morro stares at him with wide eyes. "What happened?"

Cyrus winces at the memory, and his hand – the one made of flesh and blood – starts to tremble. "You weren't nearly as curious about how I lost the use of my legs," he says, trying to keep his tone casual.

"You told me you were born that way."

"That's not technically true, though they did lose functioning at a very early age –"

"I didn't ask you about your legs."

Morro is still staring at him. Cyrus wrings his hands together, hyperaware of the lack of feeling in his right arm, and sighs. "It was the Overlord," he says. "He… after I gave the ninja the Technoblades, he – he tried to make me as dependent on technology as he was. So if something happened to him, he could, well, get rid of me."

"So he took your arm?"

"And replaced it with this one, yes." He had still been conscious when the saw came down. Cyrus remembers begging and pleading as it came closer and closer, held down by the machines, calling out for someone, anyone to help him – remembers screaming his voice hoarse until he blacked out, only waking up days later –

"Can I see it?"

Cyrus shakes his head. "I'm sorry, what?"

Morro repeats his question: "You arm. Can I see it?"

"I… well, you're looking at it right now." Cyrus chuckles nervously and raises his arm, covered by his sleeve.

"You know what I mean."

He could say no. Morro had asked, after all. Then again, the kid was just curious. It couldn't hurt much, could it?

"Alright," he says, and he slowly takes off his jacket. He shouldn't be so anxious, Cyrus thinks, his hand shaking as he rolls up his sleeve, revealing the metal underneath. Morro is just curious. They don't have to bring it up ever again after this one time.

When he peels the cover off his hand, he can't help but cringe at the clearly artificial fingers. The prosthetic functions well enough that with the cover, it's easy enough to mistake it for real – Morro certainly had, even after all this time. But the hand itself – Cyrus hates it, hates remembering when he woke up on the floor, his rescuers whispering in worried tones – for a moment he had thought it had all been a dream. Look, he had two arms, didn't he? Never mind how he couldn't feel his fingers, even as he wiggled them in front of his face, never mind the metal plate embedded in his chest –

Most of all, he hates that he will forever have a permanent reminder of his folly, his contribution in letting the Overlord return. The other cybernetics had been removed, the only thing left being the scars on his chest, and those can be ignored easily enough. But the arm is so thoroughly embedded in his body that it's impossible to remove without doing more damage. Cyrus supposes he should consider himself lucky that he has two functioning arms at all – but he _hates_ it.

He wrenches his train of thought off that track. "Well, here it is," he says, straightening his arm out for Morro to see. He opens his mouth to say something else, but the words escape his mind, so he elects to stay silent.

Morro reaches for it, then retracts his hands. "Can I…?"

"Touch it? Well, I don't see why not. I don't, ah, have any feeling in it, so…"

"No feeling at all?" Morro reaches again, but hesitates.

"No, none at all. Sometimes I imagine I do, but…" Cyrus shakes his head and looks away for a moment. "It's never anything real."

When he looks back, Morro is gently holding the prosthetic, just below the elbow. "There was never anything like this when I was alive," he says, running his hand down the metal. "How does it work?"

"It's, ah, well…" Cyrus sucks in air between his teeth. "I'm not… entirely comfortable discussing the details."

"Are you right handed or left handed?"

"Excuse me?"

Morro smiles sheepishly. "Just curious."

Cyrus' mouth twitches. "I was ambidextrous, but I consider myself left-handed now."

"But this arm still works, right?"

Deep breaths. There's a dull pain in his chest, where the scars are. He's probably just imagining it out of stress. "It works, yes, but it took a long time to get used to it. I'm… still not used to it, even after all this time."

"Can you take it off?"

"It was – so thoroughly –" The doctors said part of the arm's wiring was attached to his spine. To remove it entirely might kill him. Cyrus couldn't accept that, at first, had searched all his options, and found he simply didn't have any. "– they couldn't – barely knew what he did – shouldn't have been possible –"

Morro is still holding the arm – Cyrus rips it out of his grasp. Morro blinks. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"Get out."

"What –"

Cyrus manages to roll his sleeve back down, despite how badly he's shaking. "You heard me."

"Did I say something wrong?"

How can he be this _oblivious_ – "Do you see me asking you questions about how you _died?_ " he snaps. "Or what it was like in the Cursed Realm?"

Morro winces. "I didn't –"

"Didn't _what?_ Didn't mean it? Didn't think?" Cyrus takes a deep breath. "I will talk to you about this once I've calmed down. Now please leave."

"I –"

Cyrus glares at him and jabs a metal finger at the door. "I said, get _out!_ "

For another agonizing moment, Morro doesn't move. Then, finally, he stands up. "I'll be in my room," he says. Then, quieter, "I'm sorry."

It's only when Morro leaves that Cyrus allows himself to cover his face and sob.

* * *

His secretary calls him when he's working in the other office, the one on the hundredth floor – same floor Morro's room is on, though on the other side of the building. He's signing papers he's been neglecting and are close to overdue. When the phone rings, he picks it up with one hand and continues signing with his left. "Hello?"

"It's Becky. You told me to notify you if Morro tried to leave the building."

Cyrus immediately stops mid-signature and sits up straighter. "Yes, I did. What happened?"

"Guards caught him when he tried to go through an emergency exit. We thought he was pulling some joke, but he had apparently intended to leave."

Oh no. "I'll be there in a few minutes," Cyrus says. "Please make sure he doesn't go anywhere. Where are you now?"

* * *

Morro isn't looking at him. His backpack, the same one he arrived with, is hanging off one shoulder, stuffed to bursting – he has more things than when he first arrived in Cyrus' care. Cyrus approaches him cautiously. "Morro," he says. "Could we talk?"

Morro says nothing. Cyrus gestures to the security guards and they nod and walk out of the room, leaving him and Morro alone.

Cyrus takes a deep breath. "Is this about what happened in the office?" he says.

"I'm sorry," Morro mumbles.

"Morro, I may have been angry, but I'm certainly not going to kick you out over a few insensitive questions." Cyrus sighs and puts a hand to his forehead. "I'm not nearly as upset as I was. You've apologized. That's enough. Please don't make a scene out of a harmless mistake."

"…I'm sorry."

"I know, Morro. I forgive you."

Morro flinches. His breaths start coming fast and hard, and Cyrus wonders if he's said the wrong thing. Well, he has work to get back to.

"We can talk more later," he says. "Let's meet for breakfast tomorrow, as we normally do."

"Okay," Morro says. "I'm going to my room."

Once he leaves, Cyrus quietly tells the security guards to keep an eye on him, just to be certain.

* * *

Morro is there for breakfast the next day. Cyrus waves him over.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Morro says before he's even sitting down.

"It's fine. I'm sorry too. I let my emotions get the better of me." Cyrus takes a deep breath. "But I would like to understand your reaction. Why did you try to run away?"

"I told you," Morro says.

"You did?"

"Yeah, a while ago." Morro sits down with his plate of food. "I thought I had done something to make you hate me and stop caring about me, so I could leave. It wasn't on purpose, but…"

His casual tone chills Cyrus to the bone. "You want to leave?" is all he can say.

Morro hesitates. "Not really," he says. "I did at first, because I thought… I thought it was inevitable. That you would stop caring and throw me away. So when you got angry at me, I thought it had finally happened, even though I had stopped thinking about it."

"Oh, no, no, Morro…" Cyrus sighs. "I will, inevitably, get angry at you sometimes. That's just a fact of human interaction. But I promise you, I'm never going to stop caring about you just because I'm angry."

"Why not?"

"Because you're worth more than that. Do you think I'd stop everything I'm doing for you just because you made a mistake? You clearly felt bad about it, and you apologized. I forgive you, alright?"

And again, Morro flinches. Cyrus wonders if he should comment on it, then decides to. "Are you alright, Morro?"

"I'm fine," he mumbles, and picks up his fork to stab at the eggs. "There's just… a lot of people who aren't going to forgive me."

"What, for being insensitive?"

Morro rolls his eyes. "For destroying Stiix and trying to kill people."

Right. Apart from building weapons for the ninja to fight against the ghost army, Cyrus had been disconnected from that event. The destruction of Stiix had been a tragedy, but the evacuation had been successful, and there had been no reported deaths. Cyrus finds it so hard to imagine that Morro was responsible for it that he forgets, sometimes.

He doesn't know how to talk about it without being insensitive himself, but it's clearly been weighing on Morro. Cyrus struggles to find words for a moment, then says, "Maybe that makes me the best person to take you in, then."

"What?"

Cyrus backtracks. "Sorry, should've explained my train of thought. What I meant – the destruction of Stiix was not something that effected me personally. I'm not in any position to forgive you for that. But perhaps it's because I don't have that history with you that I'm the most appropriate to be your guardian."

Morro looks away. "Maybe."

"I'd be happy to help you work through it." Cyrus smiles. "It's been a long road for me, moving past what the Overlord did to me and many others. I'm sure you can move on, too."

"Maybe," Morro says again, and they finish their meals in silence.


End file.
